Piercing Light
by ArcticLeopard
Summary: Ichigo and Aizen are gone but the war still continues. An unexpected discovery by Urahara gives him hope that the tides are turning in their favor. But can one young man really make such a difference. OC, Rated M for later chapters, Please R&R, Thank you
1. Chapter 1

_**Piercing Light**_

_**By: Arctic Leopard**_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach. The majority of characters in this story do not belong to me. They are the property of Shonen Jump and Tite Kubo. I repeat I do not own Bleach or anything associated with it. I swear if you say anything I'll send Unohana after you. And believe me no one wants that. 

**Arthur Notes: **"Normal Talking", _Thoughts, __**Dreams, "Special" **_

_**Revival Arc, Chapter One **_

As Sensoji Minato was walking back to his apartment after finishing his classes for the day he decided to stop by the book store and pick up the latest issue of Weekly Jump. After leaving the store Minato promptly started to read the magazine. Walking through the business district it seemed to be just another busy day. When the ground suddenly shook all of the people came to a stop. Several moments later the ground shook again. Everyone assumed that these were just tremors, which were normal for this area. But Minato looked on as he saw what the true source of the shaking was.

Standing there in absolute shock he couldn't believe what he was seeing. It appeared to a battle between a young women dressed in a black kimono and what seemed to be a large monster with a white mask. The woman was wielding a katana as she jumped through the air to avoid her enemy. Her long blue hair was a contrasted to the black garments that she was wearing. The way she handled her weapon it was easy to tell that this warrior was highly skilled at using a sword.

The more amazing thing than the battle that was taking place in front of him was the fact that he seemed to be the only one that noticed what was happening. The two were fighting in the middle of a busy street and yet no one seemed to notice them.

_What's going on here? _He watched as people walked by the confrontation without even making the slightest gesture of acknowledgment that they were there. _Are they real? Of course they're real; I can feel a strong aura coming from both of them. Then why isn't anyone else paying any attention to them. _As Minato's mind raced looking for an answer he finally came to a conclusion that made sense.

"You can see them can't you?" A voice spoke from behind him interrupting his train of thought. When he turned around there was a man wearing a stripped hat with a cane. The man lifted his cane up and pointed towards the struggle. "You're able to see them aren't you?"

Minato looked back to the women fighting with the creature then looked back at the man and nodded his head. "Do you have any idea what you are witnessing right now?"

He took a few moments to think about it. "They're spirits aren't they?"

The strange man smiled as he heard Minato's reply. "Yes, but they're also much more than just spirits. Let me introduce myself then I'll try to explain as much as possible. My name is Urahara Kisuke, I'm a local shop owner, and everyone just calls me Urahara."

Minato could feel that there was more to this than just a simple explanation and this man seemed to be capable of giving him the answers he wanted. "So what's happening right now? It seems that they are almost on an equal level but the girl has a slight advantage and should win eventfully."

Urahara was a little impressed with his insight into the situation. "Come back to my shop with me and we can talk there."

He started to walk away leaving Minato behind. As he thought about this again he continued to watch the battle. Things were weird enough already but it was too late to just turn back now. _I guess there's no other choice but to follow him. _Leaving the fight behind Minato started to follow Mr. Urahara.

********

_How long has it been? Time seems to be at a standstill here. Where am I, what is this place? There's nothing but silences in this world. I'm unable to see anything but light. I can't even feel my own body. Am I dead now? Is this what happens when you die as a Shinigami? No, something just doesn't feel right, but maybe this is for the best. _

********

Urahara could tell that there was something about this young man, most people wouldn't be able to gain some sort of understanding in such a short time. "What you were witnessing was a clash between a Shinigami and a Hollow, a Menos Grande to be precise." As they walked along Urahara thought that he'd try to answer some of the questions that young man probably had.

"A Hollow," Minato remembered hearing that term before but he couldn't remember where.

"Yes, spirits are separated into two main categories, Pluses and Hollows. Pluses are the normal spirits that have been separated from their bodies. Usually Pluses are peaceful spirits and won't harm anyone but sometimes Pluses end up turning into Hollows because they develop a feeling of emptiness within. Hollows feed on souls with strong spiritual energy, whether they're dead or alive." That term Hollow seemed so familiar but he couldn't think of where he heard it from.

Suddenly Urahara stopped, "Well it looks like we're finally here."

The two of them now stood in front of a small shop. On the outside it just appeared to be just like any other shop. The only odd thing about it was that it was out of the way and was not that easy to find.

"If you wish to learn more please come inside." Looking back he could tell that they were far away from where the battle had taking place. But now Minato could feel that there was only one aura remaining and it was the young women's.

_Amazing his ability to sense individual reiatsu is already at a high level. I can sense that his own reiatsu is enormous, yet he's masterfully controlling it and it seems like he doesn't even realize it. _

"Pardon me for asking but can you please tell me your name?"

So much had happen that Minato forgot to properly introduce himself. "I'm so sorry, how rude of me. My name is Sensoji Minato."

Now that the introductions were out of the way it was time to get down to business. "It's nice to meet you Minato-san, now please come in. I'll have Tessai make us some tea." Of course they were going to need lots of tea because there was a lot to discuss.

As they entered the small shop Minato took off his shoes and looked around. The store was dimly lit which made it a little hard to see.

"Come in, take a seat in here." Urahara showed him into the dining room.

Sitting down Minato started to try and process some of the information that had already been revealed to him. He still wasn't too sure if he could actually trust Urahara yet. All he could do was wait and hear everything that this strange man had to say before making any judgments. There were too many questions that needed to be answered that he couldn't afford to turn away any possible counsel.

A few short minutes later Urahara entered into the room and took a seat right across form him. "The tea should be here shortly. Until then I'll try to explain some more about what is going on." Kisuke paused for a brief moment, "Okay, now where was I? That's right I was telling you about Pluses and Hollows."

Urahara continued explaining the differences between the two kinds of spirits. Until he was sure that Minato had a complete understanding of the subject. Then he started to explain the situation that was now unfolding in the Soul Society. It was all little overwhelming for Minato at first but he had a strange feeling that what Kisuke was true. It was almost as if something deep inside him was confirming everything he said.

But there was also a sense that he was hiding something. For now Minato was going to let it go because there're other things to worry about. Just a few moments ago Tessai had brought some tea into the room and set it down on the table. Minato took a few drinks from his cup before he started to talk.

"So let me get this straight, less than two years ago three Soul Society captains betrayed the Soul Society. And their names were Aizen Sousuke, Ichimaru Gin and Tousen Kaname." Urahara nodded in acknowledgement. The young teenager was still trying to sort everything out. "Before they could be captured the three traitors escaped to Hueco Mundo and allied themselves with the Hollows." _How can two sides that were sworn to fight each other all of a sudden become allies? _

"Power_," _Minato looked at the strange shopkeeper. "Both sides sought power, that's what allowed them to ally with each other. And one was willing to use the other to gain what they desired." For some reason Minato wasn't surprised, all of this was starting to get to him. "Like I said before last winter Aizen returned with a small army of Arrancar and Espada will to do anything for him. Thus the winter war began. But now that war has gone on for nearly a year."

It was pretty unbelievable to imagine such a war going on unnoticed by almost everyone is this world. He was sure that the effects of such a conflict would have been detected by now.

"Okay, so why am I all of a sudden able to see these spirits?"

"I believe that you've always been able to see them. It's just that you probably never realized it until now."

What Urahara said caused Minato to think back to all of the times he felt strange energies surrounding him. It all started to make sense now. For the longest time Minato could feel presences of spirits around him but he never allowed himself to truly see them.

_I guess I've been running from the truth long enough now, haven't I? _"So, what does this have to do with me then?"

"I sense that you have the power to somehow return the advantage back to our side. Because at this rate the Soul Society will not be able to last another year. Your power is starting to awaken and I wish to draw it out so you can us it to aid us." Kisuke tried to put it as clearly as possible.

It sounded like such an enormous task that Minato had doubts whether he would really be any help. Today started out to be just another normal day and now he was being asked to throw himself into the middle of an on-going spiritual war. There was no way that he'd be able to make such a decision right now at the moment.

"Do I have some time to think about this?"

Urahara nodded, "Yes you do. But I'd prefer if you didn't take longer than 24 hours. Time is crucial and the level you must reach usually takes several hundred years to obtain."

Minato fully understood the urgency of the situation. "I understand Urahara-san. I'll give you my answer before the end of tomorrow. Now if you'll excuse me I believe I should be heading home." There was so much that he needed to think about.

Urahara escorted the young man outside and watched as he walked away. He knew that he couldn't force Minato into making his decision. For now the shop keeper had to hope that he would make the right judgment on his own. There would be no point in training him if he wasn't doing it of his own free will.

"Manager, do you think that young Minato will choose to fight?" Tessai stood next to his long time friend and watched Minato's figure slowly disappeared into the distance.

"Hmm, I really couldn't tell you. I guess we'll just have to wait and see." It was getting late and Urahara was starting to get hungry. "Well there's no sense worrying about it now. So let's go eat dinner."

_**End Chapter One**_


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey everyone, Minato here, if you're reading this that means you must like the story. And apparently something must be wrong with you. If you ask me it's a little boring right now. Not enough action for me," raises his fist in the air.

"Come on Minato, we talked about this already."

"I know, I know, I know," kicks at the ground in frustration. "You said, 'It's only the first chapter and I want to build a storyline.' You don't have to say it again."

"Good. But don't worry, give me some time and I promise. There will be more than enough action for you."

"You promise?'

"I promise."

"You heard that folks, just hang in there for a little bit and I'll be kicking Hollow ass all across Soul Society. So enjoy the chapter and hopefully I'll see you next time. Well, technically I won't see you, but you know what I mean. "

_**Revival Arc, Chapter Two**_

The moment Minato entered his apartment he felt a great relief to finally be home. After taking off his coat and shoes he headed directly towards the bedroom. Right now all he could think about was getting some sleep. He didn't even bother taking off his school uniform before collapsing on the bed. Lying down on his stomach Minato looked at the clock and realized that it was a few minutes after 6:30.

"24 hours. It doesn't seem like enough time to really contemplate my choices."

His eyelids suddenly started to feel really heavy. Right now there was no way he was going to fight the urge to fall asleep. So much had happen that Sensoji thought that some rest would be very beneficial. As Minato closed his eyes darkness engulfed his world as he fell asleep.

A few moments later the young man felt a strong gust of wind blow over him. His eyes darted open and Minato realized that for some reason he was now lying on the ground. As he stood up Sensoji saw that he was in the middle of a cavernous mountain range.

_**How the hell did I end up here?**_ As if this day hadn't already been weird enough now this was happening.

_**What is it that causes you to hesitate? **_A loud voice seemed to echo through each cave.

Minato turned to see if he could find the source of the voice. His eyes searched every opening until he came upon the largest opening in the mountains. There his gaze met a large pair of reds eyes that gazed upon him.

_**You know the path that you should take. Why do you continue to allow doubt to creep into your thoughts?**_

_**Who are you? And why does it matter to you what I decide?**_

_**My name is… and I am a part of you. Therefore this decision is as much mine as it is yours.**_

_**What did you say your name was again? **_Minato couldn't hear what its name was. It was as if static had interfered at that moment.

_**That's right; you can't hear my name because you have yet to fully embrace your own potential. You claim to be an ordinary human when you know that there is something different about you. It is this that blocks your mind from hearing my name.**_

_**How is it that you know this? **_Each word that it spoke seemed to pierce through him.

_**Ha-ha, it's like I said before. But that's all I will say for now. We will eventually see each other again.**_

Before he could say anything darkness descended on him with surprising speed. The next moment he was once again lying comfortable in his bed. Minato looked at the clock and it was only 7:08.

_I was only asleep for about half an hour!_ He flipped onto his back and stared at the ceiling. _Man, what the hell was that? _He couldn't tell if that was a dream or something else. _I've never had a dream that felt so real. Like this day wasn't weird enough already._

Sitting up Minato reached for a couple scrolls that he kept away inside a container beside his bed. If he decided to do this, it would surely interfere with his duties at the shrine. Being a young priest had its advantages as well as its drawbacks. There was so much that he had to consider with every decision he made. At least his father decided to lighten the amount responsibilities he had at the shrine for now.

********

"Minato I think it would be a good idea if you're allowed to spend some time away from the shrine. Your sisters, your mother, your grandfather and I can handle everything around here. I just think you need… I'm not really sure how to put this. I just want you to try and have a normal life before you decide if you're going to take over the shrine."

********

The adolescent priest understood what his dad was trying to tell him. So shortly after that conversation Minato's father helped him move into his own apartment and as for his duties at his families shrine, Minato would still help out with the more common rituals. He was genuinely grateful towards his father, because since then he didn't feel so much pressure to live up to the high standards that nearly everyone placed on him.

From time to time Minato's father would come over and they just hang. The two of them would never talk about anything to do with the shrine. It was just a father and son spending as much quality time together as they could. Even his grandfather would come over to visit as well. Minato had to make sure that none of his neighbors were around, because most of them were single women and his grandfather would flirt with them if he had the chance.

While he continued to read through the scrolls someone knocked on the front door.

"Minato-kun, are you home?"

Minato could tell by the voice that it was his neighbor, Shizuka. The high school student put the scrolls down and hurried to the door. He opened the front door and greeted his lovely neighbor.

"Hello Shizuka-chan. Come on in." He always referred as chan in a playful manner.

Mizuno Shizuka had been Minato's neighbor ever since he moved in. She was a very sweet and kind woman who often worried about his wellbeing. Shortly after she filed for divorce Shizuka moved into her apartment. She never told him her actually age but he figured she was in her late twenties to early thirties.

After taking off her shoes Shizuka entered the apartment. "I hope I wasn't interrupting anything Minato-kun."

"No, no, I was just reading a few scrolls, nothing too important really."

"Heh-heh, I think you're the only person I know that still likes to read scroll." Shizuka would often tell him that he acted older than what he actually was.

"I don't think it's that odd. I just like the way it feels when I'm holding a scroll. So what brings you to my modest home on this pleasant evening?"

"Well," she held out her arms. "I was making dinner and I thought that you might be hungry. So I decided to make extra for you."

In her hands were a few containers full of food. Now that he thought about it, Minato realized that he hadn't had eating anything since lunch. He was too tired when he came home to actually make anything.

"Sure, why don't you go ahead and sit at the table while I heat up the food."

He took the food from her and went into the kitchen while she waited at the table. It didn't take long for him to heat up the food. Since it was really only enough for two people. All it was rice, beef strips and some soup. But Minato didn't mind since Shizuka went out off her way to make some for him. Once it was ready he put everything on a tray, as well two glasses of iced tea to go with their meal.

"So I noticed that you haven't changed out of your uniform yet. Did you just recently get home?" Her young neighbor brought the food over to the table on a tray.

"I guess you can say that. I had a few things I needed to take care of after school and I just got home less than an hour ago. So excuse me if I look a little messy."

"Oh no, I understand what it means to be busy sometimes. You actually look fine." His short, dark hair looked a little unkempt but that was about it.

"Well since the foods ready let's go ahead and eat."

It was always pleasant having dinner with Shizuka. Even though she was older than him they always seemed to have a lot to talk about. Even if all they talked about was family, work and school it was nice to be able share what happen during the day with someone.

"So how's your family doing? I haven't seen your father around lately."

"They're doing fine. They've been pretty busy at the shrine the past few weeks. I try to help out a much as possible but my father wants me to focus more on my studies. He says there will be enough time for me to worry about the shrine later on." Minato's father felt that there started to be too much unnecessary pressure about whether he'd take over the shrine.

"Well school is important so I can understand what he means."

"Grandpa's the same as usual, can't seem to stay out of trouble. I thought he was supposed to calm down as he got older. Now he's just a perverted old man."

"It can't be that bad, can it?" The comically serious look on his face was all the answer she needed.

"My mother and sisters have been taking care of the shrine with my father. The two youngest are now starting to get involved with some of the daily rituals. Other than that there's nothing really too interesting happening. So how about you, how's work been lately?"

Shizuka took a quick sip of her tea. "I highly doubt you actually want hear my complaints about work Minato-kun."

"It wouldn't be the first time, so what's the difference now?"

"I know, but sometimes I feel bad about it. So I'll just save it for next time."

"Next time… right," when she said that Minato started to think about the decision he needed to make. For a while he had nearly forgotten about but now it was all coming back. _What choice do I really have?_

His sudden silence seemed a little and was uncommon for him. Even if something was bothering him, Minato would usually be willing to talk about it. By the look on his face it seemed like he was contemplating something.

"Is something wrong?"

Minato remained silent for several moments, "I can ask you to do something for me?"

"Sure, what is it that you need me to do?"

"I'm going to be gone for a while. So could you watch over my apartment for me while I'm gone?" He had finally made up his mind. Minato just couldn't forget everything he had seen and heard today.

"Are you sure that it'd be okay for me to watch over your apartment? Wouldn't be better if someone from your family did it?"

"I trust you so there shouldn't be any problems. Unless you don't want to do it then I'll go ahead and ask one of my sisters to stop by when they have the chance." Minato was sure that his family wouldn't have any objections to Shizuka looking after the apartment while he was gone.

"No, no, no, I'll do it I just wanted to make sure."

"Thank you Shizuka, I really appreciate it." He felt at ease knowing that she'd be there.

"It's no problem. So where are you going and how long are you going to be gone?" Something just didn't seem right about the situation. "Are you sure everything's okay?"

"Everything's fine, there's just something important that I need to do." There really wasn't much he could tell her without sounding crazy.

The two of them continued their conversation for the next few hours. Eventually Mizuno realized that it was getting late. Since she had to work in the morning and Minato had classes Shizuka decided that it was time for her to say good night. Sensoji escorted his guest to the door. Minato told her that he would give her the key to his apartment in the morning just before he left for school. She still had the feeling that something was wrong but once again he assured her that everything was okay.

Once Shizuka was gone Minato had to call his father to let him know what was going on. Of course he couldn't give him all the details about the circumstances behind him leaving for now. Surprisingly his father didn't seem too concerned about it. There wasn't even a lecture trying to remind him about his obligations to the shrine. Although it wasn't normal for his father to say something like that, but it would have been funny to hear him try.

The only thing Minato's father really said to him was, "If you can, bring back some souvenirs. I'm sure your mother and the girls would love something from your trip."

After hanging up the phone the young priest was ready to go to bed. But first he needed to take a shower. As Minato felt the running water wash over his body he couldn't keep from thinking about the road ahead. Before today the only thing he was worried about was the next exam. Now that seemed like the least of his worries. There was a much bigger world out there and all he needed to do was open the door and walk through.

_I guess I should be glad that tomorrow is Saturday and I only have classes in the morning. Otherwise it could end up being more of a hassle than necessary. _

Surprisingly Minato was starting to feel a little anxious, which really wasn't normal for him. Everyone usually described him as a very calm person, almost to the point of being cold sometimes. It was rare for anything to actually rattle him. But this was a completely different situation than what he was use to. For the first time in a while the path in front him was shrouded in a thick haze.

After drying off Minato was finally ready for bed. The young priest needed to get as much rest as he possibly could, because tomorrow was promising to be a long day.

_**End Chapter Two**_


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